Effectiveness of Different Album Covers

Different album covers are created for different purposes therefore making them effective in different ways. Personally i believe that all album covers that are created are effective as they all work to the strengths of the artists however certain onces are more effective than others due to them being more focussed on their target audience or being more mysterious to make the audience want to learn more. Here are an example of a few album covers which have caught my attention at being effective:

Madonna - Celebration

This album is both a greatest hits album and an album containing her new singles. It therefore draws on the greatest hits element in the front cover using an iconic image of her from when she was younger. Fans of hers would recognise this and therefore feel nostalgic and want to buy the album. However she has put an effect on the image to make it seem very like pop art. It therefore grabs the audiences attention as it makes it a very striking, distinctive image, and even people who are not her fans end up wanting to know more. This also gives the image a modern twist therefore combining both new and old perfectly, exactly what the album has done. This therefore is a very effective album as it both sells the album to the audience using nostalgic images and bright, eye catching colours and also gives a sense of what the album is about from just looking at the front cover. A very clever idea.

Paramore - Riot

This album cover focuses on the idea of doodling and therefore giving it a very unprofessional look. All over the front it black biro with the words 'Riot' scribbled all over it. From this the audience know that the name of the album is 'Riot', however they do not know who it is by. At second glance, however, the audience can notice that one of the scribbles actually says 'Paramore' therefore giving away the name of the band. The fact that the cover draws on the notion of being self made makes it eye catching and different. Also it is outrageous showing off the personality of the band. The fact that the title of the band is camouflaged in amongst the rest of the doodles makes the audience curious and therefore spend a long time looking at the cover, enticing them to buy it more. This album cover is effective because of the general unprofessional feel of the cover which is very unusual and therefore makes it stand out from the crowd.

Oasis- Definately Maybe

With this being their debut album they wanted to sell the band to the audience and get them well known. However unlike many other artists, they have done this in a very quirky way which catches the audiences attention. They have placed all band members on the cover but in a situation which seems fairly normal and everyday. They are all watching TV and relaxing, with glasses of wine in what looks like a typically british living room, with one of them playing guitar. It creates an image for them of being typically british lads, being fairly lazy and loving the TV. The british audience will draw on this fact as they will see the situation as being recognisable and will therefore take a closer look at the album. They have put the 'Oasis' signiture font at the top of the album, big enough for the audience to notice it but not too big for the attention to be drawn away from the band. I think this cover is effective because it draws on the right balance for being quirky and yet still selling the band for a debut album. The audience can recognise the band, build up and image for them but yet still not feel bored by the image.